How about a glowing light source that lasts for 15 years instead of the typical 15 minutes of a glowstick? GlowPaint’s newest product does just that and is also non-toxic and inexpensive and doesn’t require a recharge via solar or electrical sources for its entire lifespan. According to the company, “This has potential to save billions in energy costs world-wide. Litroenergy™ surpasses all known available lighting options for cost/durability/reliability and safety.” Their products are expected to be used to replace other forms of safety, emergency and novelty lighting duties normally performed by glow sticks, LEDs and other light sources.

“The Litrospheres are not effected by heat or cold, and are 5,000-pound crush resistant. They can be injection molded or added to paint. The fill rate of Litroenergy micro particles in plastic injection molding material or paint is about 20%. The constant light gives off no U.V. rays, and can be designed to emit almost any color of light desired.” PureEnergySystems

Litroenergy was also submitted to the Nasa Create the Future Design Contest to compete based on its originality and potentially major impact on sustainable energy technology. More information can be found via GlowPaint’s online patent application though much of their research remains proprietary.

Electric scooters are something we’ve come to expect, just like hybrid cars and electric buses, but what about a solar airplane? Yes, the jokes about cloudy days in the sky will no doubt abound, but the endeavor is entirely serious. From concept to construction, the Solar Impulse has been hailed as a savior—the first major attempt to fly a plane without fuel, with eco-eyes set on a sun-powered trip around the globe. And for record-setting adventurer Bertrand Piccard Monday’s unveiling of its prototype was a long time coming: He showed off a mock-up of the Solar Impulse at the 2005 Paris Airshow, but now the 201-ft. plane is set for a test flight next fall. What’s next, a wind-powered submarine?

Originally set to expire this week, the One Laptop per Child program has extended the deadline on their compelling two-for-one gift-and-get charitable public sale of laptops until December 31st. This change will allow people more time to make a decision or organize larger group purchases and will also tap into the busy holiday gift-buying market. Larger group purchases of laptops result in a reduced price per laptop, making this a viable option for community and religious organizations as well as schools and other institutions.

The One Laptop per Child association (OLPC) is a Delaware, USA based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, created by faculty members of the MIT Media Lab, set up to oversee The Children’s Machine project and the construction of the XO-1 “$100 laptop”. In reality, however, higher costs of production have driven the actual costs up to $188 per laptop, and increasing competition from mainstream manufacturers may cause future tensions. However, given the mission of OLPC, such competition - if it successfully provides inexpensive laptops to the developing world - would still fulfill their goals:

“The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege.”

Weighing just 3.2 pounds, this robust and durable laptop includes a camera, microphone and even game controllers, as well as a swivel-screen and other features one would normally not expect for under 500-800 dollars per unit. The laptop can run up to 24 hours on battery power for low-intensity applications and can be charged via hand-crank. The product may or may not reach its original target group of 150 million users worldwide, though its creators hope that competing models will fill gaps in the progress toward this goal. To gift-and-get one for a child at home and abroad, visit OLPC’s product page.

100 Ways to Save the Environment: In your home, yard, office and everywhere else you can reduce energy consumption and use alternative methods to clean, weed and perform other daily activities to limit your carbon footprint and go green without a great deal of inconvenience or added effort.

57 Tips for Going Green and Saving Money: Here are some useful ways to both improve your impact on the environment while also potentially saving money - a true win-win situation. These include some obvious ones, such as using public transit, and some less common but equally important methods such as reducing meat consumption.

500+ Best Environmental Directories: You can link directly one of the best lists or do it through their annotated list of directories Other hit parades for environmentalists are also available, and if you do not find anything, try selected internet search engines. Auxilliary lists (white pages, chemistry, etc.) can also be useful for environmentalists.

Progress is slow but steady in the auto industry when it comes to producing leaner, greener cars. Some ideas are catching on with the help of viral marketing (what better way to promote a new technology than by handing the wheel to a problogger?). Awards reinforce the industry’s need and put the spotlight on successful example, though costs are still high and some uses of green automotive technology have not been explored.

Honda lets blogger drive their $10,000,000* hydrogen fuel cell powered car: Well, when the FCX Clarity is available to Southern California consumers this summer, it will go for $600 a month. The $10,000,000 guesstimate comes from the LA Times’ Pulitzer Prize winning wunderkind Dan Neil. Jalopnik was invited to drive the Clarity around Santa Monica and Malibu.

LA 2007: Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid wins 2007 Green Car of the Year: Founder of Green Car Journal Ron Cogan announced that the third annual Green Car of the Year Award would go to the big GM Hybrid SUV for its innovation in demonstrating that a vehicle with lots of people and cargo hauling capability could still offer fuel economy equivalent to that of a much smaller four-cylinder sedan.

High price means a hard sell for hybrid trucks: City buses, refuse trucks and delivery vans are perfect candidates for hybrid powertrains, which use less energy and cause less pollution than conventional combustion engines, especially in stop-and-go traffic. But while image-conscious drivers, especially in the United States, have embraced hybrid cars, truck operators find the new technology too expensive compared with the potential fuel savings — and hybrid diesel-electric trucks are struggling to catch on.